These are resources recommended by parents and/or teachers of special needs students. I you have a resource you would like to share E-mail us at .

You can click on the title of the book or resource to learn more about it or purchase the book or resource from Amazon.com.

The Complete IEP Guide: How to Advocate for Your Special Ed Child By Lawrence Siegel

From Amazon:
Whether you are new to the world of "special ed" or you are a seasoned veteran, attorney, Lawrence M. Siegel's book will guide you through the advocacy maze with ease. It is a valuable resource of information, including, but not limited to: an overview of special ed and the IEP process; sample IEP forms and letters; organization and planning tips; a listing of support groups, advocacy organizations and federal and state departments of education. Laws and procedures change frequently, and regulations can be different from state to state, so new editions are printed periodically. You can even take advantage of an "update service" that offers a 35% discount on any future purchases.

This is quite possibly the best resource available for assistance in navigating the path of the IEP process, so that you feel more in control of the situation. Although no published material can completely replace a knowledgeable expert or lawyer, I am now confident that I have sufficient knowledge of the IEP process to be able to be an effective advocate for my child.

Kids gobble cookies, blow bubbles, open and close a box of dress-up items, even sit on the potty to illustrate some of the 31 hand gestures taught throughout this excellent sign language video. Much like a mini video "dictionary," teaching focuses on word recognition alone--not the alphabet nor on full sentence structure--and covers a smart variety of simple verbs and nouns (based on American Sign Language and Signing Exact English). The format is simplistic but highly effective, and keeps the action moving. After the word appears on-screen, an adult carefully signs and pronounces it twice. Then, scenes flip open like book pages or spin like revolving doors to reveal several real-life examples; for instance, "grandfather" fishes with his grandson, eats cereal, and reads a book. More hand gesture repetition, performed by a culturally diverse group of grownups and kids, offers lots of practice time. Probably best used in the home or in a hearing classroom, this visually and audibly appealing 40-minute show comes from the folks who created Parent's Choice award-winning

Recently, temperament traits have come to the forefront of child development theory. In Raising Your Spirited Child, Mary Sheedy Kurcinka's first contribution is to redefine the "difficult child" as the "spirited" child, a child that is, as she says, MORE. Many people are leery about books that are too quick to "type" kids, but Kurcinka, a parent of a spirited child herself and a parent educator for 20 years, doesn't fall into that trap. Instead, she provides tools to understanding your own temperament as well as your child's. When you understand your temperamental matches--and your mismatches--you can better understand, work, live, socialize, and enjoy spirit in your child. By reframing challenging temperamental qualities in a positive way, and by giving readers specific tools to work with these qualities, Kurcinka has provided a book that will help all parents, especially the parents of spirited children, understand and better parent their children.